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Health Education
The development of modern effective health education is one of the major priorities of the
Health Committee. An appointment was made to the newly created post of Principal Health
Education Officer and Mrs. P. Mahy, who took up her duties in September, describes some of
the principles of the new service in her first report. Teaching the public about health has been
practised in the department for many years, but it is necessary to review the effectiveness and the
value of existing methods. New concepts have been developed in the teaching profession and
these must be applied not only in schools but in every teaching situation presented to health
personnel. Unfortunately it is not only the attitudes of those whom we seek to teach which need
revision.
The development of a coherent health education programme inevitably throws into prominence
those sensitive subjects connected with personal relationships. For some years now the department
has received requests for talks on venereal disease, biological aspects of sexual function and more
recently, contraceptive advice. These requests underline the need to develop comprehensive
community health syllabuses in schools in which these subjects may receive attention as a natural
development of the child's understanding of its bodily functions. Although specialist visiting
lectures may be required to give factual information on such emotive matters, the separation of
these subjects from the normal education programme within the school can only emphasise their
particular position, and make the promotion of healthier attitudes more difficult. If discussion
about sexual matters is less inhibited among the young, their elders do feel that such very personal
subjects should be considered in private. These attitudes may make it more difficult to introduce
important screening techniques such as those for cancer of the womb. During the year a new
card was introduced to make the scheme more widely known and to facilitate requests for testing,
whether by the family doctor or by one of the local cytology clinics. A national scheme for reexamination
was introduced at the end of the year in place of the previous local arrangements.
The decision of the Health Committee to prohibit smoking at its meetings provided further
welcome evidence of a changing public attitude to this potentially lethal habit. It was disappointing
that this excellent example was not followed by any other Committee for, as a government report
entitled "The Young Smoker" which was published during the year, made clear the adult population
cannot escape its responsibility for the education of the young in these matters. The example of
those in contact with young people whether as parents or as professional workers is considered
to be a far more effective deterrent in this field than more formal health education.
Social Services
The Local Authority (Social Services) Act 1970 was implemented on 1st April, 1971, and
the new social services department was brought into operation. The necessary close co-operation
between the new department and the health department was facilitated by a joint administrative
support section and by a single chief officer guiding the initial development of the two separate
services. Shortages of staff inevitably added to the difficulties presented by the new organisational
pattern but indications of an interruption in the previously close inter-relationships in the work
of the two departments had given some cause for concern by the turn of the year.
Reorganisation of the National Health Service
The consultative document published during the year confirmed the intention to reorganise
the health services outside local government but left almost all of the important questions for
London unanswered. The emphasis upon a two tier system raised doubts concerning a growth
in bureaucracy without real improvement in the service to patients and careful precision in the
nature of decisions to be taken at regional and area level will be necessary. The emphasis upon
management was welcome confirmation of the policies which the Council has already applied
to its health services and to whose effectiveness the following pages bear witness.
It is my pleasure to thank the Town Clerk and Chief Officers for their unfailing support and
help throughout the year. I am particularly grateful to the staff of the former health and welfare
department and to those of the present health department for their ready assistance during this
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